The following is an advertisement for a common item. The ad agency, however, is trying to entice buyers by making the item sound more impressive than it really is. Can you tell what is being sold here?

DEFY GRAVITY!
As you command water - or any liquid - to flow upwards! Could you be tampering with the secrets of the Earth? Your friends will be amazed! Just $1.99.

Missie, are you trying to be my new best friend? This is at least the second time you've defended one of my teasers. Thanks. Oh, by the way - to all of you who are hung up on the price: the point here is that the ad agency is making the straw sound like a mystical, wonderful device, and can therefore over-charge for it. Personally, I think that they could charge a lot more than $1.99 for an anti-gravity device.

Personally, I liked the teaser, and enjoyed it. Simple yet effective. I agree that because it was a "gravity defying" device, they could over charge it. Nice one!

(user deleted)Jul 20, 2003

ez but fun.

(user deleted)Jul 20, 2003

pretty good.. but i think it can be a lot of things too.. for example... a bathroom on the second level of a house.. the water has to go UP the pipes to reach the faucet... another example.. one of those little waterfall decorative sculptures... the pump makes the water go UP.. then it trickles down...see it could be lots of things.. funny how i thought of all of those...but didnt think STRAW!!! lol... g*job anyhow... *smile*

I recently bought several boxes of straws for a project, and I can say that $1.99 is about average. Remember, it's a company advertising their product. So it makes sense that the $1.99 fits this teaser. I enjoyed it, thanks.

Didn't think of a straw either 'cause I thought that 1,99 $ would be too expensive...but either you buy "normal" straws in a pack of 50...or as someone already mentioned a special design straw... with loops or helixes...

Excellantly written for the item involved. And yes, they do come in packages of 20, 50, 100+. As far as other liquids, one could be stretching it with the additional comments. Keep up the creative work!

How come everyone is smarter than me. I didn't know that it was a straw? For a weird reason I thought that it might be those water noodles you blow into for water to go out. well...That was fun. I liked reading that.

Very cute teaser, really had fun with it. And you mentioning that the ad agency was trying to make the product sound better, and yet still had a decently low price gave it away for me. How could an ad agency make crazy profits from 1.99 unless it was crazily cheap to begin with
Great job

I think it is amusing that people are hung up on the $1.99 being too expensive for a straw, yet others are suggesting such answers as a faucet in a upstairs bathroom but have no issues with the fact that those would cost MUCH MUCH more (we are renovating right now and a new faucet set is well over $100.00.

I too assumed it was $1.99 for a box of straws, not just one. I do like the suggestion of it being one of those crazy straws they make for kids though. But I am not sure $1.99 would be enough to buy one of those